osa Gonzalez considers every stage of life an
opportunity for self-discovery and growth. Tell
her she can’t do something, and she considers
it an invitation to not only try, but master it. Gonzales arrived in the United States in 1968 from Cuba via
Madrid and talked her way into a trial semester at Miami
Dade College. After graduating with a PhD in nuclear engineering and practicing for years in that field, Gonzales now
chairs two departments at Erie County Community College.

In person, the scientist is warm and relaxed. “It’s a transformational lifestyle,” she says of her decision, at sixty-five, to become vegan. “I am a different person, to tell you
the truth. I still enjoy my food, because it is Cuban, but
I feel better because it is healthy.” Gonzalez has shared
her knowledge, her story, and her Cuban cooking in the recently published Mamá Rosa’s Plant Powered Cuban Kitchen. Her big picture: “Holistically, you go back, and it is about
sustainability for the environment. We care for the animals,
and we take care of the environment by not creating waste.”

How did your family cook when you were young,growing up in Cuba, and then in theUnited States? How did thoseexperiences influence yourdecision to create this book?

In our family, family andfood go together. Fami-ly meets in the kitchen; IStates, because we all hadto do everything. Later,my university friends toldme, “Rosa, you used tocook for all of us.” So, as Ithought about my passionfor cooking, I realized that wasthe root. Sometimes my pro-fessors would even call meand say, “There are some[new] refugees whohave come, why don’tyou cook somethingfor them?"

Why vegan?

You've mentioned
that Cuban food
is traditionally very
pork-based; what
did your Cuban
family have to
say?

My daughterwas instrumen-tal in making thishappen. Tatiana isa health coach andshe helps many wom-en become healthi-er. She stopped eatingmeat for health reasons,and then she became veg-an, out of compassion forthe animals. Then she cameto me and said, “Mami, I wantyou to change your life. I want youto be there for your grandkids.” And Isaid, “OK, I will try.”I changed my life. My cholesterolwent down by half; I had more ener-gy. Later she came to me and said,“Why not vegan Cuban?” She wasmissing that part of her life—that fla-vor, the Cuban ingredients, the freshfood, the fresh everything made fromscratch. So, I did a lot of experimenta-tion and came up with these recipes.

My friends were worried when Tatiana was pregnant that she would
not get enough protein; now I have
two beautiful grandchildren. My
grandson, when he comes over, he
wants to eat “Abuela soups.” I just
made them lentil croquettes with
a [vegan] béchamel sauce; his little sister loved that. That recipe will
come out in volume two.

You must have enjoyed the process
of working on this book if you are

A PLANT-BASED RENAISSANCE:

Mamá Rosa’s Plant PoweredCuban Kitchenconsidering asecond volume.

What was that
experience like?

This book represents anintense time of work and dedica-tion, testing and tasting and try-ing everything on students, onmy students’ mothers, on ev-eryone. As a scientist, I had totry every recipe and make sureit worked. It took me four yearssince the day Tatiana said to me,“Mami, why don’t you write? Tellyour story, who you are, your lifein Cuba.”Everyone I talk to now, I tellthem, write one book. Write about